The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-06-26
MEXIcO'S LOST WEALTH.
THE CUSTOM OF BURYING GOLD
AND SILVER COIN.


Family Made Independent-The San
chez Hacienda Mystery-Coudi
Which Prompt the Hiding of Treasure
A letter from the City of Mexico to the
st. Louis Globe Democrat says: ''The Fed
eral Treasury of Mexico derives it's revenue
the coming year from thirty-four distinct
sources, according to the fiscal statement re-
Gently published. One of these sources is
given as follows:
Revenues arising from money. real estate
values and rights that under any title whatever
may fall to the nation from any source -. -
Naturally enough, no amount of revenue
anticipated under this class of items is piven
The financiers evidently inserted the Ian
yuage quoted to cover certain possihilities
which they had in mind. Mexicans under
stand what these possibilities are, but it will
be a matter of some surprise to Americans
when they are informed that this govern
Inent expects to derive a considerable in
come from its interest in the long-forgotten
jars and pots of coin which may be dug ont
of the ground during the next twelve
months.
MEXICo'S LOST WEALTH
The republic requires a great deal of
money for its business. The banks are few
and far apart, and the masses have yet to
make the acquaintance of drafts and checks.
Mexico has supplied the rest of the world
with untold millions Of precious mineral
In the churches of the country the orna-
ments and images and vessels of gold and
silver stand Tor millions. But when the
wear and tear and all this scattering of the
wealth produced from the mines of Mexico
have been taken into consideration there is
still great deal of the product unaccounted
for by any other explanation than that if
has been buried and lost. That is a
much more reasonable explanation
than it may appear at first
thought The amount in circulation is
known, and also that which has been coined,
approximately. The former sum is but a
fraction of the latter Ever since the con
quest, nearly 400 years.ago, there has been
going on in Mexico the interesting process
of getting out gold and silver ore, turning
the bullion into coin, burying the money for
safekeeping, and losing it. And before the
Spaniards came this same custom of hiding
precious metals was practiced by AztecS.
Toltecs, Chicimecs, and no one knows how
mary other ices"
Lieut.. Flipper, formerly of the United
States army, whose land explorations in
Mexico for several years past have enabled
him to collect much valuable information
about the people and the country, recently
told some interesting things about this Gus
tom of burying coin.
IhE MOo1 COmMON OF TRADITIONS.
''I have found very few places in Mexico
said the Lieutenant, (which could not fur
nish several traditions of hidden treasure
This is great country for traditions
Much of the history of Mexico is tradition
The churches abound in traditions Every
one of the old mines has some tradition con
nected with it, But believe that of all the
varieties of tradition that relating to hidden
treasure is the. most common
Al.
Lieutenant, II have found the traditions
supplemented by documents. These papers
are called Itineraries. They purport to de-
scribe and locate the places where fortunes
have been buried. Many long and weary
search has been made on the strength of
these Itineraries, and with varying sue
cessn
EDO you recall any particular search''
was asked
Eyes" said Lieut.. Fipper, "a Mr.. Sala-
gar in Cusihuiriachi, chihuahua, is the
happy posseSsor of numerous documents of
this kind. Some of them were sent to him
from Spain by persons who had inherited
them from Mexican relatives. The Nexi-
cans had died in SPAIN and the papers were
among their effects. Mr.. Salazar had made
something of a speciality of following up
these clews. l remember one instance Of
which he told me. He said he searched in
the place indicated by the itinerd1IO and
was rewarded by finding eleven old Spanish
coins, thus establishing the fact that there
was some foundation for the itinerdTio.
The bag OF box in which the treasure was
originally buried had rotted away entirely,
so great time had elapsed, and it is quite
possible many of the coins had 'crawled'
away"
The Lieutenant smiled with his listener
at the theory he had advanced; but he went
on to say: "This crawling of buried coins
isn't so extraordinary as you may think. 1t
happened in the South during the late war;
as many Southern people who buried their
treasures upon the approach Of the Federal
army can testify. My father buried quite
sum of gold and silver in stocking in
Atlanta during 1866 and when he dug for
his money, several months later, the stock
ing had entirely disappeared, and the coins
were scattered over space OF considerable
extent comparatively speaking. They had
'crawled' even in few months. In a CEN
tury or two they might have gone much
greater distances"
THE QUIRoGAs' DISCOVERY.
Replying to the inquiry if he had ever
known of any considerable hidden treasure
being found, Lieut., Flpper told this good
story: "A few years ago poor family llv-
ing in the town of Saric, in Sonora, STUN
bled upon buried fortune beneath their
own jacal or hovel, and the members are
NOW enjoying consequence.
The floors of most of those jacals are made
of the same mud from which the adobes
forming the walls are nodded. The Quirogas
the family of whom l am telling you
were having the floor of their house re-
paired and had employed a peon. He was
engaged in doing some digging to fix the
! foundation for the floor, when Sonora
J Quiroga came into the room to call
him to dinner. Just as she ap-
preached him she heard his pick strike
something hard and her suspicious were
aroused. She sent the peOn off and called
in one of her IONS, who in few moments
uncovered jar in which the coin Jingled
When tho Qtlirogas got through counting
the treasure they found that they. had
$4,000 The news was too good TO keep
Soon the whole village knew and cnvied
Among the first 90 come with congratilla-
tons was the priest, and he suggested that
a good percentage ought to go to the church
10 this the Quii'ogas turned deaf ear
Then the priest threatened them with I'M
prisonment In this world and dannation in
the next. The Quirogas fled the country,
taking with them all of tho mony They
now live in Nogales, Ari., aud arc good
American citizens The sons are doing well
as merchants, the discovered treasure having